INTERVIEW-Nokia says to stick with N-Gage - for now

HELSINKI, March 6 (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE) aims to eventually sell all digital content through its new online Ovi store but will keep a separate N-Gage gaming service, at least for now, a Nokia executive told Reuters in an interview.

Nokia will open the online store in May, hoping to follow the runaway success of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) similar App Store.

"Our goal in the medium term is really to converge everything into a single distribution channel," Marco Argenti, Vice President for Media, said.

Argenti said that from the start the store will sell mass-market games, but Nokia has decided for now to keep separate its gaming service N-Gage, which is targeted more at hard-core gamers.

"It's the experience we decided to preserve, at least at this stage," Argenti said.

Nokia's mobile gaming push has encountered major challenges over the years, with consumers shunning its dedicated gaming phones, and with its new online gaming service, opened last year, yet to move beyond a niche audience.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; editing by Simon Jessop)

((tarmo.virki@thomsonreuters.com, +358-9-680 50 235, Reuters messaging: tarmo.virki.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: NOKIA SERVICES/

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